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Thomas O. Melia: I don’t understand how Hungarians tolerate this

In a statement to Hungarian daily Nepszava, Thomas O. Melia said it’s uncertain how long NATO allies will be willing to share crucial military information with Hungary, as Hungary is maintaining an “increasingly close” relationship with “Putin’s increasingly aggressive Russia”.

Thomas O. Melia is USAID’s Assistant Administrator for Europe and Eurasia. He also served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, at the United States Department of State. Melia’s portfolio included Europe, South and Central Asia, the Middle East, and international labour rights.

According to Melia, Hungary has become the NATO’s “weak link”.

“I don’t understand how Hungarians can tolerate this after what Russia did to Hungary during the years of communism. Has historical memory been lost?”

he asked.

Melia said that the result of Hungarian election proves that the government’s reconstruction of the electoral system, including gerrymandering, was successful. He also said that the OSCE found several irregularities, the state media is biased and first of all, the “scaremongering” campaign was successful. Melia said that many Hungarians found refuge in the West after 1956, while there are hardly any Middle Eastern refugees in Hungary.

He said the fact Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban that he turned against his former ally, George Soros, – whose scholarship he used 30 years ago when he studied in the UK -, tells much more about Orban than about Soros. Melia added that’s he’s curiously watching which of his current allies will Orban turn against next.

According to him,

“Soros is one of the most successful Hungarians, who very generously shared his wealth to support free and open societies in Hungary and the world”.

Melia said that the fact that Orban turned against his former ally,

He also said that the Orban government severely damaged Hungary’s international reputation.

A foreign ministry official on Monday said it was “unbelievable” that Thomas O. Melia had “insulted” the Hungarian people. In a statement, deputy state secretary Tamas Menczer said:

“Thomas O. Melia is George Soros’s failed man who had had to leave the US State Department. It’s unbelievable that he praises Soros but insults the Hungarian people.”

One thought on “Thomas O. Melia: I don’t understand how Hungarians tolerate this”

Mr. Melia, you are one of those partially educated and informed American “intellectuals”, who are not familiar with neithrf history nor the Hungarian psyche.
You get only filtered bits and peces of Hungarian Political climate and base far reachin conclusion on partial truth and only partial history of Hungarian nation and people.
Consequently, your oppinion is fallacious and biast. I only hope that your oppinion will be viewed by more educated and better informed policy makers on more objective
grounds.